Beach Cleanup at Mertasari Beach in Celebration of World Cleanup Day on September 21

Reported by: Nathania Karina Anggraini, Johanna Gracia Sunarno, Ni Wayan Dina Wiantari, and Vanessa Lee

To celebrate World Cleanup Day, Eco4Shore, in collaboration with TrashHero Sanur, organized a beach cleanup competition at Mertasari Beach, Sanur, on Saturday, September 21st. Students from various schools participated in this event. 

Key takeaways

• Trash Collection:
  Over 170 kg of trash was collected with the help of TrashHero and students from different high schools and organizations.
• Trash Sorting:
  Participants learned to sort different types of waste. The most collected type of trash was plastic, totaling 37.5 kg, with plastic wrappers and bags being the most common. Significant amounts of paper and Styrofoam were also collected.

• Environmental Awareness: 
  Participants found the experience enjoyable and educational, enhancing their understanding of marine plastic pollution. They felt more motivated to protect the environment and appreciated the opportunity to make new friends and connections with organizations.

Activities implemented

• Date: Saturday, September 21, 2024 
• Location: Pantai Mertasari, Sanur Kauh, Denpasar Selatan, Denpasar City, Bali 
• Organizer: Eco4Shore, with co-organizers TrashHero Sanur 
• Participants: High school students from Badung and Denpasar regency, and regular participants from TrashHero Sanur 
• Number of Participants: 63 students and 18 participants from TrashHero, totaling 81 people

2. Beach Cleanup: 

• Participants collected trash along the beach. 

3. Trash Sorting: 

• After collecting trash, participants helped sort the different types of waste. 

Trash Collected:

• Cigarette butts: 0.4 kg 
• Metal: 2 kg 
• Rubber: 9 kg 
• Cloth: 17 kg 
• Plastic wrappers and bags: 23 kg 
• Plastic bottles and cups: 13 kg 
• Plastic straws: 0.5 kg 
• Plastic bottle caps: 0.5 kg 
• Plastic utensils: 0.5 kg 
• Glass: 17 kg 
• Wood: 3 kg 
• Paper: 19 kg 
• Styrofoam: 15 kg 
• Other unidentifiable or mixed trash: 32.1 kg 
• TrashHero participants: 18 kg 

Total: 152 kg (from participants alone), 170 kg including TrashHero 

Winner Announcements:

1^st Place: Sispala Wira Satya Mandala from SMAN 1 Kuta. 

2^nd Place: Sispala Satya Giri Kerti from SMAN 2 Kuta Selatan. 

3^rd place: Sispala Maha Bakti Pertiwi from SMAN 3 KUTA SELATAN. 

Participant Feedback

Some of the feedback from 59 participants includes the following:

• Very fun
• Gained a lot of knowledge and good experience 
• Motivated to reduce plastic consumption 
• Glad and happy to participate 
• Made new friends and connections 
• Learned to differentiate various types of trash 
• Hope for more crowded and fun events in the future 
• Want to join again 
• Realized there are many types of trash, not just plastic
• Focused on sorting waste, which was a new and helpful experience